See the Poster and Some Images from CASHBACK

While I missed the “Cashback” screening at the AFI festival awhile back, tons of my friends saw the film and raved about what I missed. Due to this buzz I’ve been waiting for the release of this British import, and with a release date of July 20th and a DVD on July 24th (it’s a Magnolia Pictures release) the wait is almost over.

Since I haven’t seen the film yet here is the studio provided synopsis as well as a director’s statement that I was sent. Again, I’ve heard a lot of positive things on this film so let’s all hope it is good as everyone says.

SYNOPSIS

When art student Ben Willis is dumped by his girlfriend Suzy, he develops insomnia. To pass the long hours of the night, he starts working the late night shift at the local supermarket. There he meets a colorful cast of characters, all of whom have their own ‘art’ in dealing with the boredom of an eight-hour-shift. Ben’s art is that he imagines himself stopping time. This way, he can appreciate the artistic beauty of the frozen world and the people inside it – especially Sharon, the quiet checkout girl, who perhaps holds the answer to solving the problem of Ben’s insomnia.

DIRECTOR’S NOTE

I have always been obsessed with the fleeting idea of beauty. A moment captured either on film or by memory. This makes it inseparable to the idea of time or the manipulation of time. It was this notion which inspired CASHBACK and its commentary on elements of time and beauty, of love lost and found.

CASHBACK originally started life as a short film. It was 18 minutes long and commented on dealing with the boredom of working an eight hour shift told from the point of view of a daydreaming teenager.

I started to wonder about turning the short film into a full length feature and over the following months knocked the idea around in my head.The main question was “if I had to do it all over again, would I do anything different?” The answer was no. So the idea then came about of lengthening what I already had.

CASHBACK has come a long way since April 2003, when we begged the manager of Sainsbury’s Whitechapel to let us shoot a short film in his store over four nights.